Obeying Rigel
By Loki Renard
Published by Sappho's Brats
Copyright © 2010 Loki Renard. All Rights Reserved.
Cover Image: Jean-Marie Guyon, 2011, Bigstockphoto.com
Smashwords Edition
Chapter One
“But I don't want to go, Kate!” Sadie's voice rose to a pitch of whine that only dogs could hear.
Kate, her tall, brunette and freckled friend laughed as she laced her trainers. “We're going. We have to go. Don't you want to be able to defend yourself?”
“No,” Sadie pouted, crossing her arms over her chest. “I'll find a big bad butch dyke to take care of me.”
“Ugh, Sadie,” Kate wrinkled her nose. Kate was straight. Kate was straight in the same way parallel lines were straight, but she took more pride in her straightness than they could ever do. “Well, it's too late now, we're here. Get changed for crying out loud, the class is supposed to start in a minute, I don't want to be late.”
“Ugh, Kate!” Sadie mocked her friend with a gleam in her eye. “Fine. But I'm doing this for you, remember? She turned and stripped off her shirt and jeans and reluctantly slid into a pair of athletic short shorts and vest, and, as a final touch of athletic style, an 80's style sweatband that made her short blonde hair stick up over it, transforming her from a pretty girl to something out of a boy band producer's worst nightmare.
“You're not going to wear that, are you?” Kate sounded mildly horrified.
“Sure am,” Sadie grinned unrepentantly. She'd agreed to join Kate in this class for moral support, but she wasn't going to take it seriously. She could defend herself already. That was why she had Milo, her four year old chocolate Labrador, who even now was probably sitting at home trying to work out what rug to chew on next.
With a sigh of suffering, Kate led Sadie out of the changing rooms and onto the gymnasium floor, where, as she had predicted, class had already started. About twenty women stood around in pairs, looking vaguely befuddled as a couple of instructors demonstrated how to break a hold.
Kate did her best to sneak up to the back of the class without anyone noticing, but Sadie put on an unconcerned swagger and did her best to stomp her gym shoes as she walked. That was the secret to real self defense, letting everyone know who's boss the moment you step into a room. Much to her amusement, she drew a few annoyed looks, one of them being Kate's.
“Remember everyone, sweep the arm and break the hold,” the instructor was saying. Sadie ignored her, letting her voice fade to a burble in the background as she stared out the high windows, wondering what people who hadn't been roped into lame self defense classes were doing. “Okay, pair up and try it yourselves,” the instructor finally announced.
Were you paying attention?” Kate hissed.
“Sure, sure, let's do this thing,” Sadie agreed, turning her attention to her friend. “You want I should choke you first?”
“Sadie that's not what we're doing!” Kate frowned. “Look, you grab my shoulders...”
“Why would I grab your shoulders? That's a totally retarded way of trying to assault someone. Where have you ever seen anyone grab anyone's shoulders before they attack them?” Sadie pointed out pragmatically.
“Sadie, just do...”
“Are we having trouble here?” A new voice broke into their conversation.
“Not yet,” Sadie replied in her best 'bad girl here, don't mess with me' voice without so much as deigning to turn to look at the speaker.
“I'm sorry Instructor, we were a little late and we didn't quite catch exactly what you were trying to demonstrate,” Kate said with simpering politeness.
“Yes, I saw you came in late, in future, try to be on time, it helps the class flow.”
“Oh yes, we will, I'm so sorry,” Kate replied.
The woman's tone was calm, but distinctly authoritarian, which was enough to get Sadie's goat. She whirled on her plastic sole to confront this arrogant would be time-lord. “Listen lady, we did our best, okay?” To emphasize her point, she jabbed her finger at the instructor's chest, accidentally made contact with soft breast and snatched her hand back, blushing furiously.
The instructor said nothing for a moment. She seemed thoroughly taken aback, which gave Sadie time to size up the woman she'd just unintentionally assaulted. She was slightly taller than Sadie, slightly wider than her, and significantly more toned, no doubt as a result of working out all the time like a gymnastic energizer bunny. To top things off, her short hair was even spikier than Sadie's, and her angular face was drawn in an expression of subdued disapproval as she gave Sadie a look of doom.
“Sadie!” Kate exclaimed in shock.
“Er, sorry,” Sadie said, putting her roving finger in her short's pocket.
“Are you quite finished, Sadie?” The instructor asked.
Sadie blushed, getting the feeling she was being lectured like a child. “Yeah,” she muttered, casting her gaze downwards.
“I'm sorry Instructor, I didn't catch your name, I'm Kate,” Kate interjected, evidently trying desperately to dispel a little of the tension that had suddenly sprung up in the little group.
“Rigel, Instructor Rigel. Pleased to make your acquaintance, now shall we do this hold?”
“Yes please,” Kate said politely. Sadie had fallen into a sullen silence.
“Tell you what, Sadie,” Rigel said when Sadie failed to respond to the next few commands. “Why don't you go sit on the benches over there for a bit whilst I show Kate this hold?”
Sadie's head shot up. “What?”
“Just over there,” Rigel pointed to a solitary bench against the far wall.
Sadie's mouth fell open a little as she stared at the instructor. If she didn't know better, she could only have concluded that she was being put in time out by the woman.
“Go on,” Rigel encouraged.
“What...” Sadie began a retort, but Rigel fixed her with a look, a dire sort of look that implied that very, very bad things could happen if Sadie didn't take herself over to the bench. Sadie found herself suddenly feeling a strange feeling she hadn't felt in years. Was she in, trouble? With a puzzled expression, she turned and wandered off to the bench as the rest of the class resumed.
The bench was wooden and hard and uncomfortable, she soon discovered. Sitting on it hurt her backside. She put her head in her hands and pouted wildly as Rigel finished showing Kate the hold and then returned to the front of the gymnasium to demonstrate the next move.
For the next twenty minutes, Sadie seethed as Rigel ignored her and taught the class, paying special attention to Kate. “Joke's on you if you're trying to bang her, lady,” Sadie muttered to herself. “She's straighter than a ruler.”
Eventually, Rigel left her instructor partner to practice with Kate and walked over to where Sadie sat on the bench. She stopped before she reached Sadie and crooked her finger at her, beckoning her over. With a flouncing sigh, Sadie bounced up off the bench, feeling her numb butt cheeks protest as she closed the distance between them.
“Yeah?” She crossed her arms over her chest and stared defiantly at the Instructor's neck. So she couldn't quite bring herself to make eye contact? So what?
“Are you finished behaving like a little girl?”
The question jolted Sadie. She had not expected that. A lecture about timeliness, yes, a lecture about bad behavior, no.
She raised her eyes to meet Rigel's and found that although her expression was still stern, there was a slight hint of humor about her eyes.
“Or am I going to have to keep treating you like one?”
Sadie's insides spontaneously melted as Rigel took another step forward, closing the remaining distance between them. Up this close, Sadie could feel the woman's energy radiating from her body.
“I... er...” there was no good response to that question. Saying no meant that she was going to continue to be bad. Saying yes was good as an admission that she'd been behaving like a little kid.
“Hm?” Rigel reached down and tipped Sadie's head up towards her. Sadie could only manage a very soft whimper as Rigel's eyes examined her and found her wanting. She didn't know this woman from a milk carton, but in less than fifteen minutes Rigel had none the less been able to subdue her in a way that almost no-one else could. Usually people let Sadie have her way, or worst case scenario, just got rid of her. The feeling of being called out was an uncomfortable, prickly one.
“I.. uhm.. I have to go, I have uhm, an appointment,” Sadie stammered.
“Really?” Rigel smiled as she moved her fingers away.
“Uhm, no?” Sadie squeaked, cursing herself. She was tongue tied and silly, falling all over her words. Rigel must have thought she was an utter basket-case.
Rigel chuckled and shook her head. “Tell you what, little girl. Take your seat again and see me after class.”
Sadie gulped. “See... you after class? For what?”
Rigel regarded her steadily. “Dinner. That is, if you can go to a restaurant without yelling about how 'retarded' the food is.” She winked, turned and walked back to the class, leaving Sadie staring after her in disbelief.
Chapter Two
Held back after class, Sadie squirmed on the bench she'd been sitting on for the past forty minutes, minus the brief few minutes when she'd been getting changed back into her street clothes whilst the rest of the class learned how to yell threateningly at attackers.
Kate had already headed home right after class with a frown set firmly on her face, and by the sounds of the last remnants of fading chatter, everyone else was almost out the door and on their way back wherever they had come from.
The hall had a strange hollow feeling to it when it was empty. Sadie blamed that for the weird curdling sensation she had in her stomach as she waited for Rigel to finish up in the changing room. A clock at the head of the hall ticked loudly, marking the seconds with rigorous indifference. As she nibbled at her fingernails, Sadie wondered why she'd agreed to stay, or even why had she agreed to sit on the 'naughty bench' in the first place. She could have just walked out when Rigel had shown her attitude in the first place. But there was something about the woman, even though she never raised her voice or even seemed angry, that made Sadie stop and listen.
“I must be mental,” Sadie muttered to herself.
Finally Rigel appeared from the direction of the locker rooms. She was now wearing a casual checkered shirt over a long sleeved thermal shirt and cargo pants. Her hair was still spiky, but wet from the shower.
“Let's get out of here,” she said, smiling at Sadie and jerking her thumb towards the parking lot.
“Uh, yeah, about that,” Sadie said, standing up and sticking her hands in the pockets of her tight jeans.
Rigel's eyebrow rose. “What? You have another appointment?”
Sadie blushed. “No, I have to let my dog out. He's been inside all day, and he gets a little crazy around the ninth hour.”
“Oh,” Rigel nodded. “No problem.”
Relief flooded through Sadie. She'd managed to find a way out of what would certainly be an uncomfortable dinner date.
“We'll swing by your place on our way, the dog can come with us,” Rigel smiled. She had a wickedly attractive smile and dimples to die for, Sadie thought distractedly, feeling her heart rise in her throat at the suggestion of bringing Milo on a date. Milo was perhaps the only creature on earth more unruly than she was. “Problem? Is he agoraphobic as well?” Rigel teased gently, seeing Sadie's dumbstruck expression.
“Well, no,” Sadie admitted.
“Good. Come on then,” Sadie was already halfway out of the door before she realized how easily she'd been bulldozed into the date. Surprisingly, she didn't mind nearly as much as she should have done.
Rigel drove a black pick up truck, Sadie discovered. A black pick up truck with a pleasantly smelling interior. “Mmm. Is that leather? I love the smell of leather,” Sadie commented.
Rigel flickered a sideways glance at Sadie and then back over her shoulder as she negotiated her way out of the parking lot. “I'm quite a fan of it myself,” she smiled.
They drove for a short while in silence, silence Sadie found utterly unbearable. “So, do you usually do this?”
“What's the 'this' you're referring to?”
“Invite people who disturb your class out for dinner,” Sadie laughed.
“Only the ones who really deserve it,” Rigel replied after a brief pause.
Sadie didn't know how to interpret that, so she started chattering about the first thing that came to mind, which happened to be a particularly infuriating customer she'd dealt with that day. Rigel listened with a good natured smile as she navigated towards the little house Kate and Sadie split the rent on.
“Okay, I have to warn you, Milo can be a bit... full on,” Sadie confessed as they approached the front door and a baying erupted from within. Milo was a sweet dog, but even after four years he had not learned to recognize the sound of his owner arriving home.
“Like his owner,” Rigel observed dryly.
Sadie rolled her eyes and made sure the front gate was shut properly before opening the front door and letting Milo barrel out, a hurricane of high pitched, excited barks as he ran into the yard, did a 180 turn and jumped up on Sadie and Rigel with tongue lolling glee.
“Easy boy, easy!” Sadie pleaded helplessly. Fortunately Milo was quickly distracted by the call of nature, and subsequently in finding a rubber ball covered in doggie saliva and dirt that he bought back to the women and generously nuzzled against their legs.
“He certainly is high spirited,” Rigel noted, ignoring the dog entirely.
“Yeah. Let me just grab his leash.” Sadie darted inside, closely followed by Milo, who was disinclined to let his mistress out of his sight.
“We'll go to the beach, he can run some of that energy off down there,” Rigel suggested as they bundled into the pick up, Milo whining with excitement from being in a car.
“Good idea, he needs the exercise, and so do I. I missed my exercise class today for some reason,” Sadie agreed with a cheeky grin. Rigel gave her a look, but said nothing.
Before long all three of them were strolling down the sandy coastline. The wind was slightly cold, but in a bracing sea-cold sort of way that Sadie found quite refreshing. There were few people about the place so Milo was given free reign to career about the sands then dash into the water and attack the waves with barrages of frenzied barking.
“So, uh, tell me about you,” Sadie asked after watching Milo almost drown himself for the third time.
“What would you like to know?” Rigel replied.
“I don't know, what do you do? What are your hobbies? What's your favorite color? How come you asked me out when I was acting like such a douchebag?”
Rigel laughed. “Well, to answer your questions in the order they were asked, I'm a martial arts instructor. I like the outdoors, my favorite color, or lack thereof, is black, and I asked you out because I though you had potential.”
“Potential?” Sadie was puzzled.
“Oh yes,” Rigel turned to face Sadie. “You came swaggering into the room, mouthing off as if you owned the place and you laid down a challenge, little lady.” She paused and extended a hand to gently trace her fingertip from the cleft of Sadie's collar bone down over the exposed skin at the top of her bosom. “I thought I'd find out just how tough you really are.” Her eyes met Sadie's in an intense gaze that brought a whimper to Sadie's lips, a whimper she barely managed to contain.
Rigel smiled at the little squeaking noise and slid her hand around Sadie's lower back, drawing her into something that probably looked like a fond embrace, but which only felt very much like a vulnerable position to Sadie.
“You strut through your life, giving everyone you meet attitude. Most people probably don't even deserve it. And you know that, but you keep doing it. You're waiting for someone who won't take it. Every time you make a snarky remark or a smart ass comment, there's part of you that wishes there was somebody around to put you firmly in your place. But there hasn't been anyone, has there?”
Sadie's head spun as Rigel closed the final little bit of distance between them and lowered her voice. “Until now.”
Chapter Three
For a moment, Sadie forgot to breathe. How could Rigel, a woman she'd only met a few hours before, understand her so completely? Sadie's brain whirred in high gear for a few long moments before coming to the only logical conclusion. It was a coincidence. Rigel didn't really know anything. She was bluffing. And if she was bluffing, Sadie could bluff back. A slow smile spread over her face as she took a step back, putting some much needed distance between her and Rigel. “Nice line,” she said cynically.
“I'm sorry?”
“I bet they swoon when you tell them that, don't they?” Sadie smirked.
Rigel tilted her head as she looked at Sadie. “And who might 'they' be?”
She was good, damned good, Sadie had to give her that. “The women you pick up in class. I bet you do this all the time. Pick someone with a little bit of an attitude and make her melt by suggesting you'll tame her wild ways. It's a good line.”
Rigel grinned. “Are you saying you're melting?”
“No!” Sadie flushed hotly. “I'm saying this shtick won't work on me. I don't need anyone to put me in my place or anywhere else for that matter.” Her tone was more high pitched and indignant than she would have liked it to be, so she covered her nerves with a dark scowl.
“I see.” Rigel was looking at her in that way again. That way that made Sadie feel hot and prickly all over. Before she could become too flustered, Sadie turned and called Milo over to her. Milo came gleefully, bounding about with an aroma of dead fish about him, which Sadie didn't mind at all. Thank god he was here to take the edge off things.
Rigel glanced at her watch. “Let's go eat, I'm starving.”
“Where are we going to eat? I don't think McRonalds will let Milo in,” Sadie objected.
The mention of fast food got an eyebrow rise out of Rigel. “I think we can do better than McRonalds, there's a restaurant at the pier with outdoor tables.”
So Sadie found herself wandering down the beach towards the restaurant Rigel had mentioned, which was indeed on the pier and had plenty of fencing to tie Milo to. The mouthwatering smell of seafood cooked to perfection wafted in the evening air, calling her with a tasty siren scent. So powerful was the desire to eat that it wasn't until she and Rigel were seated at an outdoor table nibbling at bread sticks that Sadie realized she'd been had.
“Hey! Don't do that!” she burst out self righteously.
“Don't do what?” Rigel asked as she took a sip of wine.
“You. What you did! You made us get dinner. This is your way of trying to dominate me!”
Rigel's expression flickered between amusement and a darker emotion. “You think dinner is domination? That's a whole new bag of feminist thought,” she eventually said with a wry smile.
“No, don't make jokes. I see what you did. I told you I didn't want to be told what to do and you made us have dinner!” Sadie jabbed her half eaten bread stick in Rigel's direction to punctuate the seriousness of the offense.
“You really need to stop poking things at people, little girl,” Rigel said calmly, looking at the bread stick, then raising her eyes to Sadie's flushed face.
“You need to stop telling me what to do!” Sadie squeaked, blushing bright red as Rigel called her a little girl yet again. It didn't even make sense, Rigel was probably the same age as her.
“Come here,” Rigel leaned forward in her seat and crooked her finger at Sadie. After looking around to see if anyone had noticed the little scene playing out near them, Sadie lowered her bread stick and leaned towards Rigel. It was a small table, and they were practically forehead to forehead in that position. It made Sadie thoroughly squirmy to be so close to Rigel, but she could not let that show. She could not back down now. Rigel would learn that Sadie was a tougher cookie than she appeared. She would not roll over and beg for approval just because Rigel told her to.
“Good,” Rigel said as Sadie drew closer. “Now let's get something clear here, shall we?” She gave Sadie a sharp look as if she expected an answer to the rhetorical question. Sadie nodded sulkily. “I haven't begun to dominate you. But if you continue to behave like a bratty little kid, there will be consequences. Are we clear?”
Her expression had grown serious, and her voice had lowered into what could only be described as a lecturing tone. Suddenly, Sadie felt like a child being chastised for being naughty in public. She wrinkled her nose, hoping it would hide the way her hips were wriggling in the chair. “Oh yeah. We're clear,” she agreed in the most menacing tone she could muster.
Rigel raised a brow, and was probably about to berate Sadie for her tone when a chirpy waitress interrupted their stand-off. She was a blithely pretty young thing with cascading blonde curls and a uniform that barely covered her curves and she punctuated every sentence with a giggle. “Have you ladies decided what to order yet?” she addressed Rigel with a flirtatious smile.
Sadie had not so much as had time to glance at the menu. “No..” she began, but was interrupted by Rigel ordering for them both. “We'll both have the Crawfish Bisque,” Rigel smiled, picking up Sadie's menu along with her own and handing them both to the waitress.
“Two Crawfish Bisque! Excellent!” the waitress giggled and rushed off to deliver their order to the kitchen.
Sadie glared daggers at Rigel. “What if I don't like Crawfish Bisque?” she hissed.
“Then you'll be a hungry little girl, won't you?” Rigel replied with a pleasant smile that did not quite reach her eyes.
“Fine,” Sadie muttered, slumping down in her chair and kicking the leg of the table. Rigel picked up her glass of wine as it wobbled precariously, but said nothing. They sat in silence for some time with only the sound of the waves breaking on the shore and the low hum of dinner conversation playing around them. As the minutes ticked by, Sadie felt her irritation begin to decrease. In it's place, the realization at how rude she'd been slowly began to sink in.
“Bet you're sorry you invited me to dinner now, huh,” she said, glancing over at Rigel.
“Why would you say that?” Rigel inquired.
“Because....” Sadie trailed off, momentarily lost for words to explain her behavior.
Rigel looked at her coolly. “Because you've acted like a spoiled little girl? That's precisely how you behaved in class. Why would I expect you to behave any differently now? I'm not sure you're capable of behaving like an adult.”
Her words hit Sadie like a freight train. No matter how well deserved they might have been, they seemed horribly harsh, harsh enough to make Sadie choke up almost instantly. “I don't know, maybe you just have a thing for bad people,” she said gruffly. She jumped up from the table and pulled Milo's leash free from the fence, her eyes stinging with tears. So this was how it ended huh? The woman who said she could put her in her place was already sick of her after less than an hour. Typical.
Before Rigel could stand up, Sadie had rushed down the stairs back to the beach, yanking a befuddled Milo along after her. She got a few yards before an arm wrapped around her waist and lifted her off the ground, effectively stalling all attempts at further movement.
“Where do you think you're going?”
Why did Rigel sound so amused? “Just let me go. You already don't like me!” Sadie flailed about uselessly.
“Who said I don't like you?” Rigel set her down on the sand and looked at her quizzically.
“You did,” Sadie did her best to stop her lower lip from trembling.